Mud
by SomethinaboutMarco
Summary: There are few things Jasper can't handle; soft, wet earth being one of them.


A/N: So I thought I'd do another little one-shot that provided exposition for future stories. Please be aware I'm writing this at 2:30 in the morning, so it may not be as good as intended.

. . . . . . .

Jasper hated mud.

She could stand the heat of a sunbaked planet, the harsh cold of a windswept tundra, even the crushing weight of a black ocean.

But Diamonds have mercy if she had to deal with mud.

It stuck to her perfect, pristine form, covering rank and unit insignias alike, giving her the appearance of a hulking piece of earth.

It got into every crack on her form, wet and slick from the constant rain that fell from the upper atmosphere.

Since the invasion of Phagos VI, Jasper had been moving nonstop all along the Northern Front, providing support to the most hard hit areas. She was the best of the best, and without her, the whole line would have collapsed long ago.

Still, Jasper was only one gem.

Slowly but surely, the gem forces left on the planet were slowly being pushed back, losing territory by meters a day. Sooner or later, they wouldn't have anything left to defend.

And then it would be a slaughter.

The invading force had hit hard, disabling communications to and from the plant, while simultaneously blockading the entire system.

The gem fleet orbiting the planet had almost been completely wiped out as the weeks wore on, with only a handful of frigates and Epsilon-class Cruisers left to fight a losing battle against a more numerous and better equipped force.

Soon there would be nothing to stop the grey Arcadian ships from glassing the entire planet.

At least the warp pads worked, even if they could only take gems away from this hell.

Jasper took solace in this.

She wished with all her being to warp to the nearest gem system, just to get out of this Diamond-forsaken mud.

But she had her orders, and she was determined to see them completed.

She was the best after all.

"Get down!" she yelled as she pulled an amethyst to the floor of the trench, an artillery round landing a few meters before them.

Quickly moving to her feet, she pulled the shaken gem out of the muck.

"When you hear that whistle, it means you need to get the fuck down!" she screamed. "Now get back into position! They'll be making their move soon!"

The amethyst quickly shook her head, picking up her blaster and taking her place back on the line. Jasper grimaced, knowing that she probably wouldn't survive the coming rush.

"Jasper!" she heard a voice yell "We need you up here, now!" Jasper turned to the source of the voice, another Jasper gem called Stripes. They'd been in the same unit for hundreds of cycles, and she was Jaspers right hand.

Quickly nodding, Jasper called for the gems in the slit of earth to take their positions on the line, herself taking a place next to Stripes.

Stripes smirked, "This one is gonna be wild, you think you can handle it Ms. Perfect?" she teased. Jasper gave her a partial smile, thankful for her attempt to cut through the thick feeling of dread that lingered in the air.

"We make it through this, and I owe you three units of substrate," Jasper returned.

"You've got a deal!" Stripes replied, grinning.

She was the only one smiling.

The shelling stopped

Silence settled over the battlefield.

"Keep steady!" Jasper yelled, "Pick your targets! Make your shots count! Don't give them an inch!" she shouted over the quiet.

A minute passed.

Two.

Jasper didn't like this.

Then, over the silence, a roar began, slowing growing to a crescendo as more and more mouths began to yell into the air.

"For Arcadia!" the collective voices shouted.

And then she saw them.

A massive wave of black, armored shells raced across the war-torn landscape, taking the distance in leaps and bounds. Behind them, smaller forms with sleeker suits followed, moving just as fast as their comrades in the front.

Jasper felt ice on the inside of her form.

She had seen attacks like this before, it was nothing new. She knew they could be beaten back, but this time was wholly different.

At the front of the charging force was a being in a form fitting suit of armor, standing close to two and a half meters tall.

The one who had broken the whole Northern Offensive.

"Fire!" She yelled to her troops, "Lay into them with everything you've got!"

All along the line, bursts of light barked forth, taking down hundreds of advancing troops. Light cannons a few hundred meters behind the line began to boom, taking even more enemy troops in large flashes of light, the smell of ozone filling the air.

It wasn't enough; they just kept coming.

Jasper aimed her blaster at the approaching force, looking for the figure she saw before.

It was gone.

Cursing, she started firing at the advancing wave, taking a life with each shot.

"Not bad Jas!" she heard Stripes yell over the roar of firing energy weapons, "but you still can't hold a candle to- "

She heard Stripes cut off, and looked to her side.

Stripe's form flickered, looking at Jasper, her face stuck in a look of shock.

Time slowed for Jasper.

Stripe's kept staring, and without another word, her form flickered out of existence, the gem on her chest crumbling into shards.

Jasper only stood and watched.

They fell into the wet earth, where they were scattered by another gem who stepped up to fill in the empty space.

Jasper frantically pushed the gem aside, the battle still raging around her. Digging into the muck, she desperately searched for the remains of her best friend, pushing aside mounds of the waterlogged soup.

There was so much mud.

An artillery shell hit a few meters next to her, sending her flying from her place on the line.

Dazed, she pulled herself up, form flickering from the damage it had sustained.

The line was faltering.

Whatever that thing was leading the charge had absolutely decimated the eastern flank, slowly moving its way through the line. The power armored monstrosities that followed it took to shattering the fallen gems that it had left behind, the smaller ones behind them laying down suppressing fire.

The line was broken.

Jasper cursed.

"Full retreat!" she called over the comms channel in her helmet, "Assigned units lay down a base of fire to cover our backs! Artillery units, begin procedural bombardment!"

The gems assigned to cover the retreat began to fire, allowing the other forces to escape the slaughter.

Thousands of gems began to run towards the next trench line, which was about two kilometers away, where the cycle would begin again.

And so on and so forth until there was nothing left to defend.

As beams of light from gem artillery rained down on the former gem positions, Jasper cast one last glance at the trench line.

There, through the sheets of rain that fell, were twinkling shards.

Thousands of them, slowly sinking into the planet as water washed over them.

She turned away.

Diamonds, she hated mud.


End file.
